15th Army Air Forces; WWII
15th Army Air Forces; WWII

Donate      Newsletter Signup

PLEASE SUPPORT THE 15AF.ORG PROJECT! [MORE]

Mission 260

HEADQUARTERS 47TH WING APO 520

CONSOLIDATED MISSION REPORT NO. 260. Period ending 2400 hours 18 Aug 1944

  1. 98TH BOMB GROUP. At 0611 hours, 27 B-24's took off to bomb CREDITUL MINIER Refinery at PLOESTI. 2 returned early. 25 over target at 0956-1001 hours at 23,800/26,500', 12 dropping on primary target 23.5 tons of 500 lb RDX bombs with .1 and .025 fusing. 10 dropped 17.0 tons on ASTRA ROMANO. 3 lost to flak over target. 22 returned at 1245 hours. ROUTE: As briefed with minor variations: 1 unit attacked on 78° axis, 2nd unit on 45° axis. RESULTS: CREDITUL MINIER. Covered by smoke screen. Bombed by check points visually. Bombs seen falling into target area. One explosion seen. RESULTS: ASTRA ROMANO. Smoke screen. Generally unobserved but some hits believed in target area. 50 packages of Rumanian leaflets dropped in target area. E/A: 13/18 seen: 10/15 Me109's, 2 FW190's and 1 unidentified seen in target area. 2 bursts at 1038 hours from flak barge in river at 45 50 N - 23 00 E. FLAK: IAH at target. SIH at BUCHAREST. 2 bursts at BUDUA. PHOTOS: 12 a/c attempted. OBSERVATIONS: Me109's had dirty gray camouflage with black crosses on wings and swastika on tail. At 0955, 24,500', B-24 (98th) hit by flak, salvoed bombs, out of formation, crashed and exploded at 44 35 N - 25 40 E, 0 chutes seen. At 1000, pilot of B-24 (98th) called formation leader and said he was going to bail out. At 1018, 21,000', B-24 (98th) crashed at 44 31 N - 25 28 E (two men stated 44 35 N - 25 30 E), 7 chutes seen. Received radio report that pilot of this last a/c was wounded and all bailed out, this not confirmed. At 1000, 24,000', in target area a B-24 went into spin, no fire, 0 chutes. ESCORT: 25 P51's at 0940, 28,000', 44 40 N - 25 30 E; left at 1130, 13,000', 41 50 N - 20 00 E.
  2. 449TH BOMB GROUP. At 0609 hours, 28 B-24's took off to bomb ASTRA ROMANO Refinery at PLOESTI. 4 returned early. 23 over target at 0954 hours at 23,500/24,500', 20 dropping on target 35.75 tons of 500 lb RDX bombs with .1 and .025 fusing. At 0934, 1 a/c, returning prior to reaching primary, dropped 2.0 tons on target of opportunity, RR siding at 43 09 N - 22 36 E; results unobserved. 1 jettisoned and 2 returned bombs. 1 lost, crash landing at base. 1 is missing. 2 landed at friendly fields. 19 returned at 1305 hours. ROUTE: As briefed. RESULTS: Bombed by PFF. Impossible to observe due to perfect smoke screen. E/A: None seen. FLAK: IAH at target. PHOTOS: 6 a/c attempted. OBSERVATIONS: At 1022, 23,500', 2 B-24's down in target area, 7 chutes seen. At 1013, 22,500', 44 15 N - 25 15 E, B-24 had 1 engine out and others in bad condition. ESCORT: 30+ P51's at 0930, DUMBRAVIT, 44 40 N - 24 17 E; left unescorted.
  3. WEATHER. Target: CAPU. En route: 3-4/10 swelling cumulus at 3/10,000'.
  4. TIME TABULATION: TIME DOWN FLASH MISSION 98th 1245 1256 (11') 1445 (2 hrs, 11') 449th 1305 1320 (14') 1426 (1 hr, 20')
  5. CORRECTION. The 376th Group did not lose 2 a/c to flak at SKOPLJE, as stated in yesterday's Consolidated Mission Report No. 259. Two ships were lost to flak over target and one ship turned for early return and was not seen again.
     

THOMAS, A-2.

Veteran Roster

15th Air Force personnel records and roster in World War II.

Search Alphabetically: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |